SLAC uses fashion to protest sweatshop conditions

If you heard the distant sounds of "I'm....too sexy for my shirt" on your way to lunch on Thursday, what you missed was the Student Labor Action Coalition holding a 'Sweatshop Fashion Show' in Wilder Bowl. Although audience turnout was low, energy was high among the participants.

The fashion show was the first action in SLAC's campaign to make Oberlin a sweat-free campus. Students dressed in clothes made in sweatshops strutted down the steps of Wilder to pounding music while an announcer described the conditions under which they were made. "Here's Katherine sporting her Limited casual wear, which was produced by women in China who work 12 hour days in indentured servitude!" said the announcer.

Mixing parody with serious subjects made for a humorous and affecting spectacle that impressed many of the students in the crowd. "They've finally got it right," junior Matt Van Winkle commented after the show. "So many of these protesters seem to be angry at who they're trying to reach. But they were completely non-aggressive towards the audience."

Sophomore Katherine Blauvelt organized the event along with other members of SLAC. Over 50 people attended the show. Blauvelt said, "We did it for two reasons: to have fun and to raise awareness on campus."

Six companies, The Limited, Gap, Levis, Nike, JC Penney, and Tommy Hilfiger were targeted because of their well-documented use of sweatshops. As each model pranced around in the popular fashions, facts were relayed to the audience about the manufacturer's exploitation of workers. The Gap, Limited, and Levis were all associated with breaking child labor laws and paying wages too low to live on. Nike was exposed as making their laborers work 12 hours a day in forced overtime. As the sporty Nike model danced, the announcer mocked, "Imagine her having to stay on her Stairmaster for that long." Announcers told the audience that Tommy Hilfiger is currently facing a lawsuit for breaking international human rights laws by forcing indentured servitude on their workers. Tommy Hilfiger was also accused of falsely advertising their clothes as being made in the U.S.

First-year Chris Buck, a SLAC member, said, "There was a good turnout. We had an information table and people had an opportunity to send letters to heads of the companies that use sweatshops."

Though most of the Oberlin students in the crowd were not wearing the brands that were targeted, a muted groan rose from the audience when the announcer revealed that New Balance, a company that has traditionally manufactured shoes in the United States, currently produces only 6 percent of its product in America. Many feet were shuffled.

Some in the crowd were unaffected by the protest. College junior Isaac Natter said, "Political consciousness has nothing to do with my shopping decisions." Yet most people were receptive. Van Winkle was pleased with the approach, and added, "It was very clever. It's great that they realized that we are not the sinners who are actually exploiting these workers." Other students found that they were less politically conscious than they thought. When a group was asked if they owned any of the clothing that was being targeted, they replied, "Well, yeah, look at us!"

The actions of SLAC are part of a national campaign to raise awareness about poor working conditions. On Oct. 20, United Students Against Sweatshops revealed plans to organize the Worker Rights Consortium, which would enforce university sweatshop codes of conduct. Oberlin College has already made significant progress in the fight against sweatshop conditions by passing the Sweatshop-Free Apparel Code of Purchasing in the spring of 1999.

Ohio Congressman Sherrod Brown is supportive of SLAC. "He called to say that he supported the code of purchasing," said Blauvelt, "He has always been a strong supporter of fair trade and workers' rights, so we have his backing on those issues."

Blauvelt explained that last year, the coalition's few members worked primarily with Oberlin's administration to pass an anti-sweat shop code of purchasing. She said, "President Nancy Dye pledged to never knowingly purchase apparel that was made in sweatshop conditions."

This year, SLAC's goal is to reach the students of Oberlin. Blauvelt said, "I can't tell you how many people who I thought wouldn't be interested are...We've gotten a lot of support from all sorts of people - workers rights really touches a lot of interests - women's rights, environmental groups (factories in developing countries pollute), etc. So we've seen a lot of interest on campus, and we hope to build on that."

Members of SLAC were strong in their commitments to raise awareness on campus and beyond. Blauvelt said, "Closed doors only hide sweatshops. That's why public disclosure of factory locations is critical. We hope Oberlin College recognizes this."

"I'm not wearing any of the brands we talked about, but unfortunately, most of the clothes we wear are made in similar conditions," added junior Peter Olson. "Part of the point is to say if we target a few companies and expose them, we can force the whole clothing industry to recognize worker's rights."

When asked if he was disappointed with student turnout at the fashion show, Olson replied, "I think it was successful. They'll be bigger every time as awareness grows."

Blauvelt was very optimistic about the movement's success with students. The next step is getting more people involved in SLAC. Blauvelt said, "We're here to follow through and make it a reality."